Rechargeable battery packs are widely used in many fields. For electric vehicles, a blooming industry, rechargeable battery packs play a very important role to provide power to move them. A very commonly seen business model for electric vehicles is to sell the electric vehicles along with rechargeable battery packs. Drivers can charge the batteries by themselves at home. Or like gas station, many charging stations are built over a city for electric vehicles to get charged. It is convenient for the drivers to use their free time to charge their vehicles. For example, an electric vehicle can be charged after it is parked and the driver goes to work. Before the driver gets off work, the electric vehicle finishes charging and can take the driver home. Also, electric vehicles produce no greenhouse effect gases. Electric vehicles with such business model are welcome in many countries.
However, there is still a problem which troubles owners of the electric vehicles. Since the rechargeable battery packs are fixed on the electric vehicle or not easily taken out of the electric vehicle for inspection or exchanging, when the rechargeable battery packs are getting losing power capacity, people think they are ill or even broken. The whole electric vehicle is abandoned with the rechargeable battery packs inside. It impacts environment because the rechargeable battery packs are mostly made of lithium battery cells. If the rechargeable battery packs can not be properly recycled, the earth could be contaminated by the discarded vehicles.
A solution is provided by Guimarin, et al. and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,612,606. It points out an integrated electric vehicle service station system for managing the exchange of heavy and bulky battery assemblies in electric vehicles. The battery exchange system includes a battery platform, a vehicle platform support structure, and a mechanized vehicle service station facility. The battery platform is of a simple modular shape that may be used with the large variety of sizes and shapes of electric vehicles that may be expected in the future. The service station facility includes two general service substations: an exchange substation where the spent battery platform is removed from the vehicles and replaced with a fully charged platform, and a staging substation where the battery platforms are stored, re-charged, serviced, and staged for insertion into a waiting vehicle at the exchange substation. The exchange substation is such that the exchange of a battery platform for an electric vehicle positioned at the exchange substation is able to proceed automatically and rapidly with a minimum of operator assistance so as to minimize the inconvenience to the vehicle driver.
'606 had novel concept and design around 20 years ago. First, it uses modulized battery platform to get replaced for many kinds of electric vehicles having such battery platform for power. Vehicle problems can be separated into two categories, of mechanism or of battery. It helps recycle used battery platform and maintain the rest parts of the electric vehicle. Second, Battery platforms can be charged in other place in non-rush hours. Third, with the help of automatically operated exchange substation, exchange time of battery platform can be saved. As long as there are fully charged battery platform, any electric vehicle can get fast battery platform exchanged without waiting.
However, other problems come after. An obvious one is that vehicle drivers will not know how much electric power is charged in the battery platform because battery platforms will age but just different in the extent. Another one is that it is hard to calculate a fair fee for the transaction. People can not judge the service they brought upon the appearance of the battery platform.
In order to solve the problems mentioned above, R.O.C. Application No. 201044289 discloses an electric vehicle battery charging and exchanging method. For a more detailed explanation, please refer to FIG. 1. The invention provides configuration system which includes batteries 1, 1A and 1B (Battery 1B is a spare battery in a battery exchange station 4). The batteries all include a radio frequency identification chip 11 and a memory 12. The battery 1A is installed in a vehicle 2 for use until it is getting low. Then, the user of the vehicle 2 can exchange the battery 1A with the battery 1 in the battery exchange station 4 for battery exchange. Via the radio frequency identification chip 11 and the memory 12, battery status information can be available for judging and calculating the price difference between the two batteries 1A and 1, from which the user pays corresponding fee to the battery exchange station 4.
This invention provides a system that any owner of the electric vehicles can be benefited from. The batteries can be exchanged easily and fairly charged for the service. However, people still wonder, under such system, how the operator of the battery differentiates end-of-life batteries from good batteries. It causes other issues.
Hence, a way for settling below issues are urgently desired:
1. conveniently exchanging low-power battery with fully charged one;
2. easily sorting out end-of-life batteries and getting them recycled or reuse;
3. simply charging service fee;
4. preferably monitoring condition of batteries; and
5. stably operating under a business model.